Your surroundings make you happy or sad I have been told.
I say, the way you look at your surroundings is what makes you happy or sad. Quit that crying – Now! Oh my – sounds like a parent. Ask Heather and Jim!!! I would add in no uncertain terms ” Be happy!” Then, I would laugh – try to put a twinkle in my eye – and tell them I understood the severity of their problem – sometimes that would actually make them laugh.
What is that Brubaker nut talking about – He is talking about “Pareidolia” – “The tendency to see things in random dots”
Some people – like me – just can’t stare at the sky without imagining a fluffy bunny floating by or look at a piece of wood or a rock without thinking they see a face grinning out at them. Everywhere I look I see things that are not there – In tree stumps, clouds, rocks, gardens, paintings – everywhere!!
Everywhere except one place – yesterdays posting. Cheryl texted me yesterday and said – “I found the fox you hid in the bear & and the face you hid there too” The funny thing is I did not put them there – but after re-looking this morning I see, they are there! In fact, that is all I see:
If you feel like reading, here is a little more on “Pareidolia”:
Pareidolia is normal according to Dr. Kang Lee, a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto. Lee published a study last year that found the human brain is essentially hard-wired to recognize shapes in objects. “It happens in auditory domains as well,” Lee said. “You might feel your cell phone vibrating when it’s not.”
You are more likely to see or hear them when you are in a good mood. Women are also more likely to see faces or feel the phone than men.
Pareidolia helps us to be super alert … and thus has had evolutionarily advantageous,”
In Sagan’s 1995 book, “The Demon-Haunted World” he argued that the ability to recognize faces from a distance or in poor visibility was an important survival technique. This instinct enables humans to be aware that an oncoming object may just happen to be a person and focus to see if it is a friend or foe or just the friendly random dots in the outline of a tree trunk.
Leonardo da Vinci wrote about Pareidolia as a tool for artists. “If you look at any wall spotted with various stains or with a mixture of stones, you can see a scene that you will be able to put into a painting. As you paint, your painting its self evolves – You better see landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills.”
Did Georgia O’Keefe hide objects in the flowers? Observers often view objects in Georgia O’Keeffe’s flower paintings – do you see them?
Oh my! – Hope I am not a nut. Well if I am – it is a lot of fun looking for things that are not.
I enjoy the iPad – It is a computerized toy kit that travels with me and — like my Mom used to bring little toy cars to church for us kids to play with and be quiet – well nearly 80 years later my iPad is my toy to keep me quiet while waiting, for example, in a doctors waiting room or a furniture store.
This afternoon I was sitting on my back porch enjoying the storm outside – as a backdrop to a relaxing afternoon – and here is the art my toy – I mean iPad created – I was quiet the whole time!
Click here to see two eagles fight over a fish – Happened just off my back porch!
Speaking of Plastic Surgery – Is that what you think?
It was not plastic surgery & and I did not get hit by an angry wife. Some would say I would be more handsome with plastic surgery. Then, there are those that say I certainly should be hit by my wife.
But, here is what really happened: I had a four-hour Mohs Operation on my nose for cancer removal. The Doctor came into the operating room to cut away cancer three times. After each cut, he took the cuttings to the lab to be sure the edges had no cancer on them. If the edges were clear that meant he got all the cancer. After three tries they were all clear and only then did he stitch me up.
Each Lab session took about 45 minutes.
Now, the big question – Can a wait like that be fun. “Sure can.” I had a great afternoon – really. Each 45 minute wait seemed like only moments, because I took my trusty iPad, found a sunset photo, used it as a model, and created a painting using “Mobil PhotoShop”
I enjoyed the waits so much, I did not want to be disturbed – I was busy – but, the nurse would not allow me to make the Doctor wait.
Post Script on Mohs from the web site “skincancer.org”:
Mohs micrographic surgery is considered the most effective technique for treating many basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), the two most common types of skin cancer. The procedure is done in stages, including lab work, while the patient waits. This allows the removal of all cancerous cells for the highest cure rate while sparing healthy tissue and leaving the smallest possible scar.
It began as a technique called chemosurgery, developed by Frederic E. Mohs, MD, in the late 1930s, but was not widely known. In the mid 1960s, Perry Robins, MD, became the first dermatologist to study the technique with Dr. Mohs, and he helped advance the procedure into what is now called Mohs micrographic surgery.
Mohs surgery is performed by doctors who are specially trained to fulfill three roles:
My doctor seems to be well-trained in all three – I have used Mohs at least four times before. I spent too much time chasing cows, riding horses, driving tractors, riding bike, paddling canoe , and more. Much on my ranch in the hot Texas sun. All, stupidly, without a thought for sun screen or other protection.
April 14,2018 Update: Photos from my daily ramblings with iPhone in my pocket – well in my hand when I want to take a photo:
April 12, 2018 – Oh my, – Will you think of the wonderful things that are out there to see, then go see them?
I think I have 10,000 digital images stored in the iclouds of the Apple computer. How did they get there you ask?
Good question – Do you have a cell phone? – Do you carry the cell phone most of the time? Would you enjoy spending most of your waking hours outside the house? Is your eye trained to notice tid-bits of tell-tell signs of nature’s creatures and plants while walking/biking/horse-back riding/golfing/canoeing?
I try to answer “Yes” to each question – that way I get to see lot of wonderful facts of nature – and with the cell phone camera – That is how I have thousands of outdoor photos to enjoy over and over – and of course, at times like this, I can share them with you.
Here are just a few:
(Do not forget if you have photos that you would like to share – just send them to me at jimbrubaker@earthlink.net – I will get them posted somewhere in this web-site.)
I love Mushrooms/Toadstools – “To look at them, I mean” – They come in all colors and sizes and shapes!
Oh my – Almost time for me to head outdoors on my bike – Catch you next time.
web-site
I have taken on a new project with the TGO Photo Club: “Encouraging you to share your summer (Spring, Winter, Fall too) experiences through this web site.”
Telling your summer story is easy. The iphone camera is with us most of the time – use it, then send your photos to jimbrubaker@earthlink.net
If you have no photos but want to tell a story – send that to me. If you only have photos and no story, send them to me. This web-site will evolve – I will find a place to post what you want to share.
After you have read this Front Page, click on the Photo Page to the left.
Here is one of my stories for the Spring of 2018. I call it “Look what I found.”
I wondered what this was all about, so, I went to the internet and Googled “Hidden small painted stones.” This news article popped up:
ABC – South West WA By Michael Black – Updated Sun 11 Mar 2018, 9:14pm
“A new global craze has kids all over the world getting outdoors to play hide and seek with hand-painted rocks.
It has been praised as a cheap and easy way to get kids away from technology and outside.
The hidden rocks are typically small, flat garden stones with a simple picture or a nice message painted on either side.
The rocks are hidden in parks, with photos posted on a Facebook page so other parents can take their children to find the rocks, then re-hide them somewhere else.
The trend started in America and has spread to many different countries, including Australia.”
So a hunting we did go and found more rocks in TGO:
Maybe you found some painted rocks that you would like to share on this web-site.
Send me photos
Bye for now!
People always seem to be looking for ways to better their mood. Nature offers a simple solution to improving one’s emotional health: “FLOWERS”“Being in the presence of flowers triggers happy emotion.”
In a study done by a team of researchers at Rutgers University, it was proven that flowers have a positive effect on people’s moods.
Flowers have a long-term positive effect also. The study showed that the presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.
So, yesterday I went out on a two-hour walk in Nature around our community, The Great Outdoors, with only my iPhone camera in hand, and searched for Natures happy emotion.
At the end of the two hours, I really felt great. I enjoyed each encounter with flowers in the wild. I will do it again, and I encourage you to give it a try.
I present here, for your enjoyment, 19 of my finds.
Again, a very Happy Easter to you. May you think of scheduling a little time each day to study a flower.
I will catch you later, when I think of another topic to post on this website.
Oh, by the way – if you have any photos you would like to share with other readers, just send them to me (of course they must be suitable for family viewing) and I will work them into my postings.
I showed it to many people and no one saw what I saw.
Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an American advertising executive and the founder of Leo Burnett Company, Inc.. He was responsible for creating some of advertising’s most well-known character’s including Tony the Tiger, Charlie the Tuna, the Marlboro Man. Burnett’s creativity mind saw things to influence our minds. Time Magazine named him one of the most influential people of the 20th century.
Burnett said “Curiosity about life and the world round them, in all of its aspects, is the secret of great creative people”
The aspect of our personality that appears to drive our creativity is called openness. As explain in the book “Wired to Create”, the creativity of open people stems from a drive for exploration of the world around them. This curiosity, to examine things from all angles, leads open people to see more than the average person – leads them to discover possibilities laying dormant in familiar environments.
But, the monotony of a daily routine can lead us to put our blinders on and close all exploration of the world around us.
It is easy to have this happen if you work in NYC: Wake up, cram breakfast, get on the train, put headphones in, pretend that the commute isn’t happening, wait for the elevator, work for 10 hours, and then repeat the steps in the reverse order.
Or, blinders happen even if retired: Wake up watch the news, eat breakfast, take brisk walk for health reasons with headphones on, go back to the house, watch TV……
Enough said on that topic – I just hope it triggered some creative thinking in your mind as you are out jogging, walking, or commuting – bet you will have fun examining things from all angles,
I will show you how my mind works or doesn’t work – I will let you be the judge:
All that came from a bike ride stop to look at a landscape decoration Oh my.
Bye for now. Catch you next time.
Post Script ” Lunch preparation by the Nature Trail yesterday – just click below
See you next time – Bye for now
With the weakening of our five senses as we age, parts of the brain responsible for these senses become hyperactive. They fabricate sounds, sights, smells, tastes, and feelings that really are not there.
Aging is a beautiful, natural, inevitable process. We can gain new experiences, every day, from things that do not exist. After years of getting to know the world around us we think we knew it all. But try hallucinating for a new beautiful sense. Experts say, when adults reach 60 years and over, the incidence of hallucinations increase.
To be honest, I am way over 60, and I am not aware that I hallucinate, and honest again, I have never been told that I hallucinate. So, there is what I have to say to the experts.
To be honest again though, I really enjoy seeing things that are not. I enjoy forcing myself to be creative – Look at an object, the sky, or the weather and pretend I see things. Get into a situation and pretend that I am free to make new rules and have fun.
Yesterday, while walking in the Orlando airport, I saw a tree growing out of the floor with two large trunks reaching for the skylights as part of the landscape in the airplane boarding area. Of course every one walked around them (As the architects of the modern airport expected) – but I saw a walkway run right between the trunks. I thought it would be more fun to send my suitcase(on wheels) around the tree and I would walk on my make-believe walkway – of course I expected the TSA officers to put cuffs on me – but they only laughed at the old man clowning around.
I will talk more on this subject, of creatively making fun, in future posting to this web site – but for now, I hope you use the two following illustrations to help prompt you to see (create in your mind) things that are not, tell others of your thoughts, and have a good laugh.
Be confident that it is not old age hallucination. Quite the opposite, you are teaching your mind to creatively play! – and that is a good way to start having inexpensive safe fun every day.
So there, that is what I have to say to the experts on old age hallucination.